Need advice with getting off of klonopin

[[Ms...]]

Hi all.

 

I've been taking klonopin daily (.25mg) for I believe about two weeks now. Before then I took them "as needed" .25 a few times a week for about a month or so. For the past week my head has been feeling out of it and I've been getting a lot of headaches which I am not sure if they are due to the klonopin use, but I don't want my head to feel like this and I don't want to be taking a benzo daily for an extended period of time although I do feel it has been helping somewhat with my anxiety.

 

I know it is a very small dose and hasn't been for long but what would be the safest route to come off? I'm sure I would be okay just discontinuing, but I get very freaked over the possible withdrawal symptoms and would like to avoid them if possible.

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[[be...]]

You did not mention your "as needed" doses in your introduction. They really are meant to take for two weeks or less for a variety of reasons. One is that a dependency can develop in as quickly as two week, and another is that sometimes tolerance is reached quickly and unexplained symptoms develop. Since your total use is under 2 months you may be able to do a much more rapid taper than someone who has taken them past that point. The recommended reduction rate for long term users is up to 10 percent every two weeks. If it was me I personally would want to get off  before that point and I probably would try a two week taper. 

[[Ar...]]

I don't want to give any advice that may be harmful, I'm just letting you know that you and I are in the same boat, and telling you my experience so far. I have been taking between .5-.25mg 3-4 times per week for probably the last 2 months. I decided to just stop cold Turkey and see how long I could go. So far I am 5 days in with no withdrawal symptoms except maybe some mild anxiety. I think the low dose combined with the short time frame made it easier for me to achieve this. However, I have not thrown my prescription away because I know that klonapin is long acting and it could take up to a week to show up. I did this on the advice of a doctor who said that if I started feeling withdrawal symptoms just to go ahead and cut into .125 and start to taper from there. Best of luck to you, from what I understand you and I may be catching this before it gets out of our hands. Again this is what has worked so far for me! May not be right for you!

[[me...]]

2 weeks! Quit taking them, you will be just fine. No need to taper at all! it just keeps the drug in your system longer and makes you feel more miserable. Ashton recommends one week of taper for every month of use, but you don't even register for one month of continuous use. You also will be much better off it you don't read all the horror stories here, because none of them will apply to you at all. Only the most sensitive of the very long-termers are going to be posting here. 

[[Ge...]]

I agree with all of the above posts. You'll likely get off of klonopin with little to no problem at this point.

 

I'd like to add that, if your anxiety is affecting your daily life, I highly recommend looking into as many natural relief methods as possible (if you haven't already). A healthy diet and exercise go a long way, but so can working to truly understand your anxiety. Other relaxation techniques, such as: meditation, deep breathing, talking things out with a close friend or family member, etc. can help a ton as well.

Life-altering anxiety is not something you have to live with.

 

Apologies if this advice is unwarranted/unneeded. lol

[[bu...]]

2 weeks! Quit taking them, you will be just fine. No need to taper at all! it just keeps the drug in your system longer and makes you feel more miserable. Ashton recommends one week of taper for every month of use, but you don't even register for one month of continuous use. You also will be much better off it you don't read all the horror stories here, because none of them will apply to you at all. Only the most sensitive of the very long-termers are going to be posting here.

 

:thumbsup:

[[Ju...]]

This would be a good time to review your diet (sugar, caffeine, wheat, etc.), very much connected to mood,

and changes as we get older.

-J